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The Volkssturmgewehr ("People's Storm - Rifle") is the name of several rifle designs developed by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during the last months of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. They share the common characteristic of being greatly simplified as an attempt to cope with severe lack of resources and industrial capacity in Germany during the final period of the war. The Volkspistole was a partner program, almost identical, but for pistols instead. The weapon's name can be translated directly either as "People's assault rifle" or "''
Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
'' rifle." ''Volkssturm'', the German late war militia home defense force, means "People's Assault"; ''Sturmgewehr'' translates as "assault rifle".


''Primitiv-Waffen''-Programm

As a last-ditch measure in the nearly lost war, on 18 October 1944 the ''Deutscher
Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
'' was mobilized – a German national militia. To arm them under conditions of depleted manpower and limited available production capacities the ''Primitiv-Waffen-Programm'' ("primitive weapons program") was initiated. It called for weapons that were as easy as possible to produce. Walther designed the ''Volkssturmgewehr VG 1'' rifle, Spreewerk Berlin the VG 2,
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in ...
the VG 3,
Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arm ...
the VG 4 and
Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3r ...
the VG 5 (a.k.a. VK 98). Best known is the ''Volkssturmgewehr'' by Gustloff which was a gas-delayed blowback semi-automatic rifle.


VG 1, 2 and 5


VG 1

The
Walther Walther is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German ''Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior". The name was fi ...
Volkssturmgewehr VG 1 is a manually operated
bolt-action rifle Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-actio ...
. It uses a simple
rotating bolt Rotating bolt is a method of locking the breech (or rear barrel) of a firearm closed for firing. Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse developed the first rotating bolt firearm, the " Dreyse needle gun", in 1836. The Dreyse locked using the bolt handle ...
, with locking provided by the two frontal lugs; the crude bolt handle engages a cut in the cast steel receiver to provide additional safety. The feed is from detachable 10-round box magazines, originally developed for the
Gewehr 43 The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (abbreviated G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92×57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during World War II. The design was based on that of the earlier G41(W), but incorporated an improved ...
rifle. The manual safety is also very crude, and consist of a stamped steel lever pinned to the trigger guard just behind the trigger. When engaged, the safety lever blocks trigger movement. To disengage the safety the user must turn it sideways with a finger. The stock is crudely made from wood, and non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only. It was meant to be produced by
Zbrojovka Brno Pre-war Československá zbrojovka, akc.spol. (or a.s.) (Czechoslovak Armory)and post-war Zbrojovka Brno, n.p.(Brno Armory) was a maker of small arms, light artillery, and motor vehicles in Brno, Czechoslovakia. It also made other products and ...
in the current-day Czech Republic.


VG 2

The Spreewerk Berlin Volkssturmgewehr VG 2 is also a manually operated bolt-action rifle with a similar rotating bolt and crude manual safety. Locking is provided by two frontal lugs which lock into the steel insert pinned inside the stamped steel receiver. The VG 2 rifle is fed from detachable box magazines, originally developed for Gewehr 43. The stock is crudely made from wood and consists of two separate parts: shoulder stock with semi-pistol grip and fore-end. Wood parts are permanently pinned to the receiver. Non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only, and zeroed for .


VG 5

The
Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3r ...
Volkssturmgewehr VG 5 rifle (or more correctly, the Volkssturmkarabiner VK 98) was slightly less basic. It used the Mauser
Gewehr 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Kar ...
type bolt action with rotary bolt, some of the early guns actually had serialised K98 bolts and/or receivers probably sourced from parts storages or rejected from main production for some reasons. Later guns had more parts produced specifically for VG5, these were standard K98 parts, but of very low quality, they were obviously distinguishable by virtually lacking any finish. The barrels were actually all K98 standard barrels. It had an internal magazine, just like K98, though with simpler unremovable bottom plate, very basic unadjustable fixed sights and very simple short stock, making it indeed a simplified and low quality sporter stocked K98. These rifle prototypes were developed as part of the Volkssturm-Mehrladegewehr ("People's Assault Repeating Rifle") program.


Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr

The Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr was designed by Karl Barnitzke of the Gustloff-Werke for the ''Primitiv-Waffen-Programm'' ("primitive weapons program") in 1944 and was intended to be used by the ''Volkssturm''. Production of the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr occurred from January 1945 till the end of the war; roughly 10,000 were made. This gun was initially called MP 507. The MP 508 was fairly similar except it had a semi-pistol grip stock. The weapon employed the same
7.92×33mm Kurz The 7.92×33mm ''Kurz'' (designated as the 7.92 x 33 kurz by the C.I.P.) is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate rifle cartridge developed in Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II, specifically intended for development of the Sturmgeweh ...
intermediate cartridge An intermediate cartridge is a rifle/ carbine cartridge that has significantly greater power than a pistol cartridge but still has a reduced muzzle energy compared to fully powered cartridges (such as the .303 British, 7.62×54mmR, 7.92×57 ...
as the earlier
StG 44 The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser. It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (''Maschinenpistole 43'' and ''44''). ...
assault rifle and also used the same detachable 30-round
box magazine A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges withi ...
. The Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr uses a gas-delayed blowback action based on the Barnitzke system, whereby gas bled from the barrel near the chamber creates resistance to the rearward impulse of the operating parts, which ceases when the projectile leaves the muzzle, allowing the operating parts to be forced rearward by the residual pressure of the cartridge case. This principle has been used most successfully in the
Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...
P7 pistol. The Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr is constructed rather like many
semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actu ...
s, it has a casing and
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
around the barrel; the whole casing recoils backward. The breech block, with firing pin and extractor, is pinned to the back end of the barrel casing. The rear end of the gun does not recoil and has the hammer, sear and trigger built into it. Gas coming from four vents, near the end of the barrel, holds the bolt closed till the gas pressure drops to a safe level. The
Grossfuss Sturmgewehr Grossfuss Sturmgewehr was a prototype assault rifle designed during World War II by Kurt Horn at the Grossfuss company ( Metall- und Lackwarenfabrik Johannes Großfuß) better known for their contribution to the German arsenal made with the MG 4 ...
used the same principle of gas-delayed blowback operation, but it was somewhat more efficient in the use of gas; its bolt weighed 0.8-0.9 kg compared to 1.4 kg in the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr.Юрий Пономарё�
Автомат Хорна
''КАЛАШНИКОВ. ОРУЖИЕ, БОЕПРИПАСЫ, СНАРЯЖЕНИЕ'' 2006/9, pp. 20-26
The Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr was assembled out of 39 metallic parts, not counting rivets and screws. Of these specific parts, 12 required milling, 21 could be produced by stamping alone, and 6 were springs.новинка оружейной техники или эрзацоружие?
''КАЛАШНИКОВ. ОРУЖИЕ, БОЕПРИПАСЫ, СНАРЯЖЕНИЕ'' 2008/4, pp. 22-29
Testing of a captured Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr at a Soviet GAU shooting range showed that it was rather inaccurate, with 50% of the shots at 100 m landing in a circle with 10.2 cm (~4") radius and with 100% of the shots at the same distance landing in a circle with a 19.8 cm (7.8") radius. At 300 m these the corresponding radii were respectively 25 (9.8") and 50.3 cm (19.8"). The 100 meter fixed sights of the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr made aiming difficult at longer ranges, with the bullet dropping around 84 cm (33 inches) below line of sight at 300 meters, forcing the shooter to aim higher on the target. For reference, a kneeling soldier presents a target approximately 96 cm (38 inches) in height, or 48 cm (19 inches) when prone.


See also

*
HIW VSK The HIW VSK was a carbine of German origin developed by Hessische Industrie Werke. It was intended as a Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World ...
, similarly intended weapon using blow forward operation *
Wimmersperg Spz-kr The Wimmersperg Spz ("Sp" stands for STEN-pistole, "z" for zweiteilig. English: Sten pistol, made of two parts) was a family of German assault rifles that was in the planning stage during the latter days of Nazi Germany. Overview The overall w ...
prototype assault rifle * Gas-delayed blowback firearms * Volkspistole


References


Further reading

* W. Darrin Weaver (2005), ''Desperate Measures - The Last-Ditch Weapons of the Nazi Volkssturm'', 424 pages, Publisher: Collector Grade Publications; Deluxe First Edition; preview at https://web.archive.org/web/20110930170446/http://homepages.vvm.com/~histpart/volkssturm.htm * Dieter Handrich (2008), ''Sturmgewehr 44'', DWJ-Verl.-GmbH, , pp. 432–435 "MP 507 und MP 508 von Gustloff" (in German) *


External links


VG 1-5 Semi-Auto Carbine in 7,62x33mm Kurz_Germany
article with photographs



at Modern Firearms
Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr VG.1-5 rifle being fired
at Forgotten Weapons
SPAR 1690

FIR 8573

Gustloff VG1-5 Nazi Last Ditch Rifles
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 7.92×33mm Kurz semi-automatic rifles Gas-delayed blowback firearms Rifles of Germany Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1945 World War II infantry weapons of Germany World War II semi-automatic rifles